Understanding Eachother
by MondGottin
Summary: A orange haired female drops through a hole in the sky and changes the Harry Potter universe irreperably. Features a female Ichigo
1. Chapter 1

AN: I have one other story pending, and for those who put it on alerts, don't worry, this does not mean that I won't update my other story. As it stands, this one is a crossover with the Bleach and Harry Potter Universe. I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often…

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The winter war is still going on as Aizen retreated from Karakura Town when the spirit-enriched land changed location. Ichigo (who is female), returned to Karakura Town with Nel in tow. Her peace lasted until she was killed when pushing her sisters out of the way of a drunk driver. Because she was a soul reaper before, she kept all her memories and was instantly made the captain of the fifth division. She was sent on a scouting mission to Hueco Mundo when she was captured and tortured for a year before she was able to escape. As she is the perfect merger between hollow and soul reaper, she was able to open a garganta. As far as the Potter-verse is concerned, this occurs during fifth year, before the trial, but after he is taken to Grimmauld place. The Wizarding government has a passing knowledge of soul reapers. They don't like them, but they respect the fact that the seretei could wipe them out if need be. With that said….onto the story.

**Chapter One: Holy Shite! Did that girl just fall through a hole in the sky?**

**It was the day of the hearing and Harry was nervous, no matter what Hermione said he knew there was a possibility he could get expelled. And just what did he do that was heinous enough to warrant such treatment? Well he saved his good for nothing cousin's life, that's what. "Stupid gits, if they would pull there heads out of there arses we wouldn't be in this predicament anyway", the surly teen muttered to himself angrily. "You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity right?" "So what's the second then." "Answering yourself", replied the second occupant of the room. "Well I'm not too far gone than", Harry replied amusedly. The second man chuckled a bit. "So, Sirius, do you know how I'm getting to the hearing?" This sobered up the second occupant, no revealed to be none other than Sirius Black, considerably. "I know for sure that I am going with you no matter what Molly says", he replied, his tone emphasizing the finality of his statement. Harry knew better than to argue with his godfather when he got like this and decided to simply retreat to his rooms to get ready.**

**It turned out that the plan wasn't that elaborate at all. Harry and Sirius (under the guise of Snuffles of course) would tale the night bus as close to the entrance to the ministry of magic as possible, than walk the rest of the way. It was also agreed upon that Arthur's office would serve as the perfect place to wait until the hearing actually started. It is at this point that we find a slightly green Harry and an unsteady black dog trudging through downtown London in search of a particular phone booth. "Of course they send me with someone who hasn't been to the ministry in years, let alone know where it is", grumbled Harry under his breath. Unfortunately for him, Sirius' animagus allotted him keen hearing, and he got a swift nip to his behind in response. He was just about to retaliate when the sky itself seemed to split at some unknown seam, and drop a bloody yet vibrant haired girl behind. The only thing that he could think to say was, "Holy shite! Did that girl just fall from a hole in the sky?"**

**After a few seconds of panic, he managed to pull himself together long enough to rush to her side. Alas Padfoot was not so lucky in that he was still standing there gaping like an idiot. The first thing he noticed about her was that she looked like she had been run through with a sword, and closely resembled Voldemort's latest torture victim. He reached to check her pulse, covering himself with blood in the process. It was this sight that shocked his godfather into action. He quickly changed back into a human, and rushed to his godson's side and began to apply the meager amount of first aide that he had learned as an auror. "Will she be all right?", Harry quietly asked. Harry was unnaturally pale, the idea that someone else may die in front of him brought back unwelcome images of the night Cedric died, Sirius noted how upset Harry was and reassured him that as long as they got the girl to Poppy within the hour, than there was no reason she wouldn't survive. **

**They both reached down to prop the girl between them for transport when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by Aurors, a smug Fudge, and what looked disturbingly like the love child of a Toad and his Uncle Vernon. Harry immediately took a defensive stance in front of Sirius and the stirring girl. "Well, well, well, well, what do we have hear, Mr. Potter, as you have missed your court hearing you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts school of witchcraft and Wizardry, your wand is to be promptly snapped", Fudge sneered. Then the toad-like woman leaned towards the minister and whispered something in his ear, whereupon his face turned a disturbing puce. "Seize him! Seize Sirius Black right now!" As the Aurors moved forward, Harry's grip on his wand tightened. He understood he was outnumbered, and outclassed as far as spell knowledge was concerned, however he vowed that the only way they were going to get to Sirius would be over his corpse. "Stop now", a soft yet commanding voice replied. "I place these two men under my protection as the fifth division captain of the thirteen court guard squads." Harry looked around for the source of the voice only to realize that it was the girl they had been saving. He watched as she unsteadily drew herself to her full height, and set a cold gaze upon the minister. The Aurors, who had stopped for a moment, then began advancing. Kingsley, however, remained behind. Suddenly an incredible pressure filled the air and pushed everyone but Harry to the ground. The girl shot him a quizzical look before preceeding. "I said that these two people are under my protection, are you deaf or a dumbass" The minister turned red with anger and was about to fling an insult right back when Kingsley interrupted. "Minister, I think you should heed her warning. I have met a few soul reapers, including captains. They were able to defeat fully trained Aurors without breaking a sweat, and those people have nothing on her…I have the feeling that she could wipe out the ministry with a sweep of her hand." Fudge paled and forced out "fine, but they are not to leave your sight, got it?" and abruptly turned on his heel and left. The girl than turned to her saviors and said "Hello, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki…nice to meet you", whereupon Sirius promptly fainted. **


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Sorry that it's taking so long for me to update either of my stories, however class is back in session at my college and as such things will be hectic until I can find a routine.

Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often…

Chapter 2:

After swearing to send for Madame Pomfrey it was decided that the trio were to return to the ministry of magic to convene with Dumbledore. The trip went by quickly as they were now traveling with a delegation of people who actually knew where the entrance was.

"Well the answer is obvious, she'll just have to come with us." Dumbledore intoned. This caused Mr. Weasley to stutter a bit. "B-b-b-but Albus, how do we know that she isn't going to betray us? That she doesn't work for V-v-voldemort?" A tired voice shot back from across the room, "how am I supposed to work for him if I don't even know who this Moldy-fart guy is?" Both Sirius and Harry began laughing uncontrollably at the mangling of the evil wizards name. Dumbledore shot them both a reproachful look, leading them to both stare sheepishly at the floor. After a few seconds of prostrating themselves before the elder wizard, Harry spoke up. "Mr. Weasely, I honestly trust Ichigo, besides why put Sirius and I under her protection if she meant to kill or betray us?" Ichigo felt a warmth in her chest at that pronouncement. It had honestly been awhile since she had been so completely trusted. Even those she counted on as her closest friends were wary of the power of her hollow. She let out a watery "thank you" before returning to business, "So how are we going to get where we are going?"

After reaching there destination (which incidently was the most depressing damn building she had ever seen, and that includes the freakin repentance cell), Ichigo decided that whatever the hell they just did was going on her list of things she hates which includes that captain that looks like a serial killing clown, and a bored Kenpachi. Whatever the fuck that was, I never ever ever want to do that again!", she exclaimed from her perch in Harry's arms. Although it seemed that a few of the adults wanted to protest her choice of language, they were cutoff by Harry replying that it was called a portkey and he didn't much enjoy it himself. All of a sudden, a screech came from the foyer. "Mudbloods, blood traitors, filth destroying the integrity of the Black name! Begone like the plauge you are!". Ichigo immediately began charging a cero in her palm ready to eliminate the threat, when she noticed it was just a talking and moving painting….wait, a talking painting? Deciding to deal with that whole paradox later, Ichigo shouted right back at the rude…woman. "Shut the fuck up you old hag! Yo snoflake", she said, addressing the headmaster (much to the shock of everyone), "can I kill this thing?" The headmaster, who seemed amused at his new nickname, told her that they had tried everything to get rid of the rude painting, yet nothing thus far had worked. Ichigo just smirked and replied "Oh this will", before charging a red ball of pure energy in her hand. "Cero". she exclaimed more for them than herself, and watched the beam impact the painting, promptly vaporizing it. Everyone just stared at her dumbfounded, which she mistook for anger at singing the wall. She sheepishly scratched the back of her head and opened her mouth to apologize, when the man named Sirius dropped to the floor in front of her grabbed her hand and started weeping. "Thank- you, thank-you, thank-you….", he kept repeating. After a few more moments of akwardness, Dumbledore seemed to take pity on the obviously embarrassed soul reaper and announced an order meeting.


	3. Chapter 3

Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often…

Chapter 3:

A few floo calls later, and the entire order plus an orange headed soul reaper, the Weasely children, Hermione, and Harry, were seated around the large oak table in near the kitchens. At the head of the table sat the headmaster of Hogwarts, and leader of the Order of the Pheonix, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Ichigo was nervous, she had really stuck her neck out for them, and as it stood, she was still recovering. While she was sure she could deal with minor hollows, Aizen was far more likely to send his best Espada after her. Her inner musings had to wait, however, as every adult in the room began to shout and bicker with each other as they fought over whether or not she should stay. Finally she got fed up with it, grabbed a bewildered Harry's hand before stalking from the room. When they tried to protest, she let out a bit of her spiritual pressure, surprising them and yelling "When you are all done acting like fucking idiots (cue and indignant Mrs. Weasely), come and find me. 'Till then, I'm going to get to know the person I've just placed under my protection." The rest of the children followed her out while the adults stood dumbfounded. Snape turned to the headmaster and asked him "Is she always this blunt?". Dumbledore nodded his assent, causing Snape to do something so heinous, the majority of the Order fainted on the spot….he smiled, and said "I think I'm going to like her".

Back in the den with Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Harry, and Ichigo. Harry was telling Ichigo his life story (for once not leaving anything out). "So let me get this straight, the Dursley's don't feed, clothe, or care for you and sometimes beat you?". Harry nodded, he refused to meet her gaze, he didn't want to see this person he had formed an instant connection with, pity him. Ichigo grabbed his chin and looked him straight in the eyes, "I'm not going to pity you. I know that that's the last thing you need, and pity just minimizes what you had to go through. What I am going to do is scare the living shit out of the Dursley's for you", she finished with a smile. Ginny, who didn't like some orange headed bimbo touching her Harry, questioned in a scathing tone "So how are you going to manage that, you don't look all that scary." Ichigo sent her a dirty look before replying "like this", and pulled her mask over her face. Everyone in the room (save for Harry), got the chills just looking at it. Harry noticed the slightly strained feeling in the air, and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention, and continued.

Ichigo heard about the first time Harry had to take a life, and sympathized with his feelings of confusion and guilt. She was regaled with the tale of the basilisk, Lockhart, and Harry's penchant for the snake language. Then he continued with how he met Sirius, followed by the Triwizard tournament and Cedric's death. "You don't think I'm evil do you?", he questioned nervously. "Dark does not necessarily mean evil anymore than light means good. To label you evil because of feeling angry and having a gift that can be construed as dark is stupid. In fact, in many cultures the snake is a symbol of healing and life", Ichigo replied tersely, "in fact I know exactly how you feel about having Voldemort inside your head." Ron jumped out of his seat and yelled, "Don't try and be all understanding, we're his best friends…your just someone living in the same house. Don't pretend to think that you know what he is going through you filthy little upstart." Harry and Hermione looked shocked at Ron's outburst, Ginny merely capitulated on the idea and continued on with her brother's rant. "Obviously you just want to get close to him because he's famous, you don't actually care for him as a person." Ichigo stole a quick glance to her side, and saw that Harry had turned a ghostly white. She assumed that the yelling may have brought up bad memories for him…either that, or he actually believed what those two were saying. Either way, she had to put a stop to it. Bringing down enough spiritual pressure to push the two red heads to the ground, she yelled "shut the fuck up you damn idiots! Lets set the record straight shall we? I am not from this damn world, and until a few hours ago thought this magic stuff was Disney channel crap, so your belief that I want to know Harry because he's famous is complete and utter bullshit. I want to know him because he seems like an amazing person with an even greater heart, someone that doesn't let life's shitty circumstances define him, and in short someone I could consider a friend. As for not understanding what he's going through, your right. I may not understand exactly what he went through, but I think you'll find our circumstances to be quite similar. Don't prejudge you self-righteous assholes, 'cause you don't know the first freakin' thing about me." (AN: I always pictured Ichigo as rather foul mouthed as a female) Suddenly a wizened old voice came from the doorway, "You are absolutely right Ms. Kurosaki. Why don't you come into the dining room and inform us." The room's occupants whirled around to meet the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore.


	4. Chapter 4

Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often…

AN: I have changed how Ichigo died in the story, this version seems to flow better.

Chapter 3:

A few minutes later, Ichigo found herself the center of attention in a very tense room. It was clear that those who lost the argument were extremely bitter, and knowing that it was about whether or not toabandon her after she had placed two of there own under her protection, was giving her a permanent eye twitch. Dumbledore seemed to sense her discomfort and gave her a grandfatherly smile before asking her to begin. She took a deep breath and did just that….

"The first eight years of my life were typical, so there is no point in re-telling them. It was June 17th, when I was nine years old, that everything changed. It was raining that day. It was raining the day before, and the day before that. The water level in the river rose significantly due to the rain. Yet that girl stood there, swaying on the bank without an umbrella, as if she was ready to jump in any minute. At that time I couldn't make the distinction between spirits and real people, so I ran after her. My mom followed. I must of blacked out because the next thing I knew, my mother was lying on top of me…dead. She had been killed by a hollow named Grand Fisher." Horrified gasp were dragged from the occupants of the room, while Harry just looked at her sadly. "So this is what she meant when she said we were alike, both of our mother's died for us". he thought to himself. "My ability to see, speak and even touch spirits, continued to grow over the years. When I was fifteen, I met my first Shinigami….It was also the first time I died." More horrified gasps filled the room, before Ichigo continued. "Her name was Rukia Kuchiki, and she gave me her shinigami powers by stabbing me through the chest with her zanpaktou. She did so knowing that she was breaking the laws of the soul society. Eventually she was captured and sentenced to death by her own brother. Well, I couldn't just let them kill my best friend now could I? Me and four others went to soul society and kicked major ass, we saved Rukia and exposed three captains. They plan on using something called the hougyokou to overthrow the spirit king. We thought we had them cornered, but they escaped. I knew the battle was just beginning so I went home and trained, that's when I found out about my inner hollow."

All of a sudden, Ron Weasely lept to his feet and yelled, "See, she is evil, she just admitted that she is one of those soul eating monsters. I bet that she will eat all of us as soon as we go to sleep at night." Ichigo thought about how ridiculous that statement was, but noticed that some of the more fanatical order members were shaking there heads in agreement. The fact that so many thought her a monster hurt more than she thought it would, she had hoped she had finally found a place where she was accepted, but it seemed her hopes were once again dashed. Harry meanwhile noticed her change in demeanor, and calmly placed a hand on her shoulder to show his support. Dumbledore finally asked the question on everyone's mind, "Are you a danger to us?" "No". Ichigo answered truthfully. "To those who mean you harm, or those who harm the innocent, than hell yes, I will be there worst fucking nightmare. I have killed before and would not hesitate to do so again. As for the issue of my hollow, she's different than normal hollows in that she is royalty. Like the human and spiritual realm, the hollow world has royalty. These royal hollows have better reasoning skills and are not the mindless killing machines that the lower classes are. This isn't to say that she is all rainbows and fluffy bunnies, she enjoys bloodshed way too much. Our merger gave me acsess to her power without the influence." The rest of the group nodded in understanding while a select few still remained distrustful.

Ichigo continued with her tale "Aizen had used the Hogyoukou to give shinigami traits to hollows, creating arrancar, the opposite of what I was at the time called a Vaizard. These arrancar were split into the 10 elite known as espada, and the rest known as numerous. The top ten espada were more powerful than you could ever imagine, hell a numerous almost killed a captain level shinigami named Ikkaku. We were unprepared and underestimated our opponents, allowing them to capture one of my friends named Orihime. The soul society attempted to keep us from going to the hollow realm known as Hueco Mundo to save her, but in the end Yasutora Sado, Renji Abarai, Rukia Kuchiki, Ishida Uryuu, and I, stormed the palace. We ran into a young arrancar named Nelliel Tu Odvershvank and her brothers who helped us get into Aizen's stronghold known as Los Noches. I don't know what we were thinking taking on the brunt of Aizen's army on our own, but we were quickly outnumbered. Rukia almost died after getting impaled by a trident, Sado was sliced across his chest and passed out from blood loss, Renji and Ishida had the majority of there organs smashed, and I had a hand shoved through my chest. Luckily for us the Captain Commander had sent four captains, three vice captains, and a seated officer to aid us, otherwise we would have died. Aizen, however, capitalized on this and locked us in Hueco Mundo while he went to destroy my hometown to make the key that would allow him into the royal realm. He had placed Orihime under the protection of the fourth espada UlquiorraSchiffer, so I naturally went to rescue her. I held my own against him until he went into his released state. When he used his second released state he picked me up by the neck and shot a cero through my chest, meaning I died…again. Prior to this I had lost control of my hollow for a few seconds, but this time we completely merged. Because of the previous battles and the need to protect my friends, my hollow and I temporarily merged. (AN: I imagine a female Ichigo's hollow form to look like the main character's form from witchblade, but white, with male Ichigo's hollow mask). It was a massacre. I destroyed Ulquiorra, and even attacked Ishida before they could shatter my mask. I felt really guilty, but I knew that I had a job to do. I went through a garganta, that rip in space that you saw me fall through Harry, to my hometown. Aizen saw me and realized that we must have wiped out his forces in Los Noches, and decided on a tactical retreat. Later I found out that he would be able to revive any of the fallen espada, but he only had a 2 hour window in which to do so. On his way to the garganta, he informed me that he had killed my body. With no body, my life in the world of the living was over, luckily the Captain Commander Yammamoto gave me the fifth division's captain position. I had my position for about a year before I was captured by Aizen on a mission."

"It was a standard reconnaissance mission, I had already done hundreds of them….maybe it was that predictability that got me caught. I had a two squads of new recruits fresh out of the academy as such they were in danger when we were ambushed by thousands of hollows. I knew something was wrong when I couldn't recall the gate to soul society, so I instructed the recruits with the best reaitsu control to take the front, and I shoved them through a garganta I had created. I used my bankai and took out wave after wave of hollows, it took what seemed like hours. When I was on the verge of collapse Aizen came and knocked me out, before dragging me to Hueco Mundo."

It was at this point that Ichigo showed the first crack in her emotional mask. "When I was left to there 'tender' mercies, I was brought to the brink of death numerous times. They would shove a sword through my heart to see how I would respond, electrocute me, beat me to unconciousness…but the worst, the absolute worst happened when I was paralyzed. They did live autopsies on me. I could feel as they rooted around in my internal organs and even my brain, yet was unable to cry out or even move a finger. I was experimented on relentlessly due to the fact that not only did I posses above captain level soul reaper powers when I was alive, but I also contained a royal hollow. It was during this time period that I was turned into the perfect hybrid. Now that I was the quote, unquote 'perfect weapon', they had planned to break me…what they didn't count on was the fact that my new powers would allow mw to escape. I opened a garganta, not really caring where it went and ended up tumbling out right in front of Harry here," she concluded, waiting for a reaction. The rest of the order was shocked silent, some looked angered (whether at her or on her behalf remained to be seen), while some looked horrified. Finally Ginny spoke up. "So you want us to believe this line of crap. That there is a whole society of death gods stuck in some war of there own doing, hidden away from the rest of us. And that you yourself have died multiple times? Yeah right", she snorted. Again some of the order members agreed with her, angering Ichigo further. "Well if I could fucking show you I would, but as I cannot, your gonna have to take my word for it. Honestly I could care less if you believe me or not, you two-bit hussy (insert shocked gasps). As of this moment there are only four people whose opinions matter to me, Harry's, snowflake's, mr. dark 'n broody (aka Snape), and Fluff ball (Sirius)." Silence once again reigned for a few minutes as people either contemplated there new nickname, were in shock (again), or quietly seething. Dumbledore finally broke the silence. "Miss Kurosaki, if I told you there was a way to view your memories, would you do it?""


	5. Chapter 5

Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often…

AN: It may seem farfetched with how quickly the relationship/trust develops between Ichigo and Harry but my thinking on it was that they had gone so long without meeting someone that could understand what they were going through that they have created an instant connection.

Chapter 5:

Ichigo stared at the swirling basin incredulously. How the hell could tbis freaky bowl thing help her prove she wasn't lying? Dumbledore's calm voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"Miss Kurosaki, this is what we call a pensive. It transports as many people as you wish into a memory to view it much as a ghost views life. We can see, hear and experience the environment just as you have, albeit from an outside perspective. This is accomplished by adding memories pulled directly from you and placed into the liquid. This does not mean you lose or alter the memory in any way, rather it creates a sort of copy. Unfortunately you will be experiencing every memory at an extremely rapid pace, and if these memories are as traumatic as they sound, this will be extremely uncomfortable. Do you still wish to continue?"

Ichigo shot him an exasperated look, "as if you even have to ask that again old man, my answer hasn't changed." She then watched as he pulled his wand up to her temple and asked that she concentrate on the memories she wanted to be seen before the flashbacks began.

*FLASHBACKS*

She was nine and felt something warm saturating her shirt, and a comfortable weight pressing her into the earth. She opened her eyes and let out an earth shattering scream as she was confronted with the dead body of her mother….

She felt every agonizing inch as the Soul Reaper's katana slid into her heart before there was an explosion of light and a sensation of pure power….

She remembered the burning in her chest followed by nothingness when Ulquiorra killed her, and finally she recalled the sensation of Szayel cutting open her skull and rooting around in her brain while she was cognizant of everything going on around her.

*END OF FLASHBACKS*

Harry could see the changes in her expressions and placed an arm around her shoulder in a show of support. He amazed himself with how much he had grown attached to the orange-headed spitfire in such a short amount of time. He attributed it to how similar they were, and not the attraction that he refused to agknowledge as of yet. He was startled by her suddenly gasping as she awoke, and slowly helped her sit up. Ichigo quickly thanked Harry (studiously ignoring the blush on her cheeks), and turned to examine the long silvery strand attached to the Headmaster's wand.

Perhaps she was a still a bit disoriented because she blurted out the first thing that came to mind…"Holy shit! Who knew memories looked like old people hair!" Everyone in the room gave her weird looks, while some (Fred, George, Harry, and Sirius) were doing there best to not burst out laughing. Dumbledore himself seemed amused. "Be that as it may," he replied, "it is now time to view the memories…do you wish to accompany us?"

Ichigo frowned, "No, seeing them once was enough, but I should warn you that they are extremely violent and not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach." It was a testimony to how much certain individuals believed her when even Ginny was allowed to watch.

When Harry made no effort to move, Ron ambled over and said "Hey mate! You got to come see this too, or are you just making sure she doesn't escape when everyone else is using the pensive"

Harry, not at all amused with his friends antics as of late, merely replied that he already trusted her and as such had no need to view the memories. Ichigo quickly told harry that she wanted him to see them, and ushered him off to the pensive. She displayed no outward surprise when they all disappeared after poking that silvery mist (she figured if they had talking paintings and transporting boots (AN: the portkey), than people magically disappearing into fancy mist filled birdbaths wasn't out of the realm of possibility).

Just as she was contemplating venturing to the living room for a book to keep herself occupied, everyone returned. Nearly everyone was pale and shakey, a few even rushed to find buckets or vanishing there sick from the floor when they didn't find one in time. Harry had just managed to avoid being sick, but still looked very disturbed. When he caught sight of Ichigo, he rushed over and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear, "This isn't pity….this is support", before pulling away.

Seeing that no one was in any state to take the lead, Ichigo cleared her throat to get there attention before saying, "Now that you know I was telling the truth, where do you want to go from here?"

This seemed to pull Snape out of his stupor. "In your memories, the leader of the traitors is referred to as Aizen, correct?"

Ichigo nodded an affirmative, allowing Snape to continue. "What was his first name?" Ichigo looked him in the eyes, sensing she was about to get some really bad news, "Souske."

Snape immediately dropped heavily into the closest chair and cradled his head in his hands before doing something almost as un-snapelike as smiling….he swore. "Shit"

"What's the matter Severus?", questioned Dumbledore, trepidation in his voice.

"During the last death eater meeting, the Dark Lord was acting exceptiononally…..giddy. Naturally, being the nosy sort, Lucius asked him what the good news was, and he told us that he had a powerful new ally that would turn the tide of the war in there favor."

"What was the name of this ally?", the headmaster asked breathlessly.

"Souske Aizen"


	6. Chapter 6

Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often…

Chapter 5:

"Why?", questioned Ichigo "what possible motive could he have to join with this dark lord? Nothing makes sense…."

Harry must have sensed her distress at having heard that her torturer was so close to what she now considered her escape. He again provided the emotional support she needed by wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The physicality of the act itself surprised him. Normally he was wary of physical affection due to not having much experience with touch not hurting, but now he found himself not only offering it, but craving it from the person beside him.

Harry tuned out the Headmaster informing Ichigo of the state of the war, having heard the same thing multiple times on the extendable ears, but had his interest piqued when Dumbledore asked what Aizen's prescence meant for the war effort.

"In esscense, your screwed. From what I've heard of your batttles, you wouldn't last a second on my battlefeild, which is exactly what Aizen can bring to the table."

"What about that soul society place? Could you perhaps send word to them and have them help us….you are a captain after all?"

"That's tricky….I may be a captain, but I am also expendable. The captain commander himself had been prepared to kill all his subordinates to destroy Aizen had I not shown up. What also needs to be factored in is that the war may not have completely relocated. Karakura town was a lynch-pin to Aizen gaining the king's key as it is spirit enriched land and contained the requisite number of souls. If attacks continue in my hometown, the soul society won't be able to sacrifice even a small contingent of warriors to aide us. Another factor that needs to be addressed is the nature of Aizen's power itself. I don't know if you have much information about how we classify power so just bear with me. All soul reapers have four basic fighting methods. They are as follows: Zanjutsu which is the art of the sword, Kido or the demon arts, hoho which is fast movement, and hakuda refering to any unarmed fighting techniques. Aizen is amazing at all of these, but by far the largest issue…and the one that is keeping me from involving the gotei, is his Zanpakto.

Kingsley than spoke up, "what is a zanpakto? I have heard of them before, but never really understood what was different about them.."

Ichigo scratched her head and said "It's pretty difficult to explain…..I know! I'll just show you." With that she tapped an area in front of her and opened up a smaller garganta that she had used to store Zangetsu so that she could run faster. Those in the room watched with awe as she pulled out what looked like a giant meat cleaver wrapped in bandages.

"This is Zangetsu", she stated with a flourish.

"You talk about that sword as if it's alive, but that's impossible", one person asked.

"You guys are the ones with screeching paintings, and misty memory birdbaths, and your saying that my sword having a soul is impossible?", mumbled Ichigo incredulously. "All zanpakto have a spirit, and it's up to the shinigami to learn there names to release there true form. This is Zangetsu's true form. If the shingami and the spirit get close enough, and they are able to subjugate the Zanpakto's spirit, they can reach the final release which is called bankai. My bankai is called Tensa Zangetsu, and it compresses all my power allowing me to fight at incredible speeds." Ichigo could sense that they were still skeptical, so she placed her hand on the grip of Zangetsu, unfurling the wrappings in the process, and pushed some of her spiritual pressure into the blade. Everyone in the room (save for Ichigo of course) became tense at the apeearance of a scraggly man in his thirties with long dark hair, a black ankle-length cloak, and a pair of sunglasses.

Ron, not liking this new intrusion yelled "Who the hell are you?" All the stranger said was "I am…Zangetsu."

After a few words with her unshakable zanpakto spirit, people finally understood why soul reapers got so defensive when people refered to them as mere swords. Realizing that she hadn't told them about what made Aizen so deadly, she began to contemplate how to once again take control of the conversation, luckily she was saved by the headmaster's eerry timing.

"You said that the reason you didn't want to involve your group was because of this man' sword spirit? Could you elaborate?"

"His zanpakto is named Kyoka Suigetsu, and is probably one of the deadlier ones out there….especially in the hands of a master, which he most definitely is. It's power lies in illusions. Aizen calls it Kanzen Saimin, or perfect hypnosis. It can perfectly replecate the sight, smell, feel, taste, sound, and overall aura of anything and all that is required is for you to see his sword release once. Before he defected Aizen managed to catch every member of the Gotei 13 in his illusions, so he could theoretically make them kill each other by making them think there ally was him. To put it into perspective, he convinced the whole of soul society that he was dead, when in reality he had killed and taken control of Central 46. He managed to make trained warriors of the best caliber think that the 46 members of the governing body were meeting as usual. I am the only one able to match his strength that hasn't seen the release of his zanpakto. If you hear the words 'shatter kyoka suigetsu', close your eyes. Your life is surely forfeit, but at least you won't be forced to kill your loved ones. Now that we have this settled, what am I going to do?"


	7. Chapter 7

Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often…

AN: To answer a few questions I had gotten from reveiwers, I state in the author's note in chapter four that I was going to change how she died. As for the matter of the Hogwarts ghosts, I have always seen magic in the Potter-verse as sentient. To put it simply, they cannot be touched because it is expected that they cannot be touched. With Ichigo, they assumed that she was alive, so magic allowed them to help her. There is more to the anomaly that are the Hogwarts ghosts that will hopefully be explained in time. Also there is a reason that Ichigo's friends and family have not been involved, which will come to play in upcoming chapters. And finally to address the problem of Kyoka Suigetsu…To me it's power is sort of like a brain parasite, so even if Fred and George could create glasses to allow people to stare directly at it's release without being affected (which is a great idea by the way), it would do no good for those already 'infected'.

AN: I apologize, but postings may take longer in the future as classes just started at my college and I have so much homework that I believe I have killed my own little section of forest (I am so proud!)

Chapter 5:

Ichigo was staring so intently at the crack in the dirty celing of the bedroom she was sharing with Ginny, and Hermione that one would think it contained the secrets of the universe. In reality, she was contemplating what the Headmaster had decided the best course of action was. She was to attend Hogwarts as a student. They were going to get everyone's supplies the next day at some alley, she was to spend the rest of the summer catching up. This task would have been significantly more difficult had the headmaster not applied for the underage status for Harry, Hermione, and herself to be revoked (with the anti-Potter/Dumbledore sentiment, she expected it was only allowed out of fear that she would level the building). Things were getting far too complicated, yet somehow she was content….maybe it was because of Harry. It was with these thoughts that she was finally lulled to sleep.

Diagon alley was a bustle of activity, and it seemed that she didn't have enough eyes to see everything. Harry found her reaction endearing as it was so similar to his when he was eleven, and ventured to point out various things.

The first stop was gringotts. Ichigo planned to open an account there where she place her substantial captian's salary (AN: She keeps it in the same place she kept Zangetsu). The reaction of the goblins was disconcerting at best. As soon as they entered the bank, they were surrounded by angry goblins with spears pointed at vital points.

"What are you doing here god of death?" the goblin she assumed to be the leader asked.

"I'm just here to open up an account as I shall be attending Hogwarts….but I must ask why you hate soul reapers so much?"

"It's simple", the goblin sneered, "we have it on good authority that all of your swords are created from goblin made steel and we have yet to be compensated…"

Ichigo stared at the creature incredulously, "If you actually believe that, you are a fucking idiot." This made the rest of the group cringe as they knew that goblins were notoriously proud creatures. "Every single sword is a manifestation of the weilder's soul. See, watch", she replied, again pulling her sword out of that rip in space, and showed them Zangetsu just as she had done with the Order the day prior. "Now that you know the truth, can I create an account."

The rest of there time at the bank was uncomfortable for everyone but Ichigo, as she was used to getting glared at. Harry heard her mutter "these goblin thingies ain't got nothing' on Byakuya's glare or Kenpachi's 'let's fight' smile." He then felt an irrational surge of jealousy. Who were these two men? He managed to pull himself out of his stupor long enough to realize they were in the creepy wandmakers shop.

While Harry, Ichigo, and the others were outside, Ollivander was preparing to do his signature entrance, perfected over years of selling wands. No matter how much beloved, his dusty old shop was well…boring. Scaring the crap out of potential costumers, was the highlight of his day. As soon as the orange-haired woman asked if there was anyone there, he popped out from the secret alcove he had built in just for that purpose. He had been suspecting a yelp, or if he was lucky a string of curses, however what he got was a glowing red ball thrust in his face. He could feel the heat and the sheer power rolling off it in waves.

Ichigo had just entered the wand shop when a creepy ass old man jumped out in front of her. With reflexes honed during the war, she charged up a cero and held it in front of his face in a threatening manner. When she saw the pure terror etched on his face, she reabsorbed the energy and helped him steady himself.

"Sorry about that creepy (he grimaced at his new nickname), but scaring the crap out of someone that has been fighting a war since they were fifteen probably isn't the best idea."

Mr. Ollivander was finally able to get his bearings and replied, "That is fine. It was my mistake…..so I take it you're here to purchase your first wand?"

"Yep, replied Ichigo excitedly, "However I am worried….control has never been my strong suit. I may be able to use kido, but all of my spells are way overpowered."

If the information worried the shopkeeper, he didn't show it, merely choosing to gather up five boxes that he thought could contain possibilities. He was in for a surprise when all five boxes exploded when they got within a foot of Ichigo. Everyone jumped back, while Ichigo just looked sheepish, mumbling something to the tune of "I freakin' warned you". before returning to stare at the ground.

"Curious", said Ollivander, leading Harry to decide that it was the old wandmaker's absolute favorite word. "It seems we may just have to do a custom wand for you… please follow me, you may bring one other person as too many will disrupt your ability to feel the pulls to different materials."

Harry tried not to feel both warm and smug at the same time when she grabbed his wrist.

"Now reach out with your senses and find the items that you feel pulled to". explained Ollivander in an eager tone. Ichigo, remembering her training with the hollow technique Pesquisas, quicky gathered up four items in her arms.

"Curious", said Ollivander again (Harry fumed silently), "You have selected the blood of a thestral and the feather of a dark phoenix as your cores, and a high quality piece of obsidian and a moonstone as further focuses…but there is no wood for me to make this out of."

Ichigo suddenly heard her Zanpakto speak to her, telling her what to use and why. Finally coming out of her trance to face a confused Harry, she related what he told her. "Apparently, all the cores are tied to who I fundamentaly am as someone who deals with the dead, while my focuses are tied to my zanpakto with the moonstone reflecting his name and powers, and the obsidian with the desire to protect. This leaves me off-balance…I need to protect as well as destroy. My hollow nature needs to be represented so Zangetsu told me to use the bone from my hollow mask in place of the wood."

"Oh?", said Ollivander, "If that is the case follow me to the front of the shop so I can put your wand together."

After reaching the counter, the wandmaker told her to pull out the material he was supposed to use, so she pulled her hand over her face, allowing red tinged black reaitsu to envelop her leaving behind a demonic looking mask. Those who had not yet seen this transformation felt a shiver of fear run down there spines. She quickly broke off half of the mask and handed it to the shell-shocked man. He stammered out a quick 'it should be done in about four hours.' before ushering them out the door with an exited expression on his face.


	8. Chapter 8

Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often…

After wandering around for three hours gathering the various other supplies that were needed ("What the fuck do I wanna ride on a broom for…there for sweeping not flying, besides I can already run on air."), Ichigo decided that what she really needed was a pet. Although they went to a couple places, nothing seemed right for her, finally they ran into a small shop located on the edge of Diagon ally that seemed to have no sign except a worn out piece of wood with the words "Enter at own risk…and have a nice day!" crudely written on it in Japanese. Ignoring the warning she entered the shop.

"What brings you to my humble abode", said a wrinkled old man with eyebrows rivaling the captain commander's.

"I am looking for a companion." said Ichigo simply.

The old man shambled over and scrutinized the group before replying, "In this shop you do not choose your companion, they choose you….and it seems that there are two here in the group that have been deemed worthy of my oldest and most powerful tenants." With that two enormous birds that looked like crosses between a phoenix, and a peacock flashed into existence. While both were extremely colorful, one favored the cooler end of the spectrum, while the other channeled more warm shades.

Ron was doing a happy dance inside his head, "obviously one of them is meant to serve me…then the world will see my awesomeness!" Ginny was thinking along the same lines, but instead of the world she was focused on Harry. However both would be disappointed as the birds landed in front of Harry and Ichigo.

"My name is Yin," spoke the blue bird in a melodious tone, "and I represent the feminine aspects, the moon, the earth and the water….I will be your companion for as long as you live." It finished with a bow and a blue flash of light that solidified the bond.

The second bird stopped in front of Harry and said in a powerful voice, "My name is Yang and I represent the masculine aspects, the sun, the sky, and fire…I will be your companion for as long as you live." A bow and a red flash of light created another bond.

The rest of the group stood speechless, jaws dropped at the sight of the four powerful beings. Finally Harry broke the silence. "Not to be rude or anything, but what are you?"

One of the birds answered, "We are known collectively as Fenghuang, or the Chinese phoenix." Harry's mind conjured up images of Fawkes, who while magnificent in his own right, paled in comparison. As if reading his mind (which because of the bond he kinda is) Yang said "While we are related to the European phoenix, we differ in that we don't have those pesky burning days, and can only exist as a pair."

Yin picked up where Yang left off. "You see, while we are called Fenghuang collectively, one of us is a Feng, while the other is a Huang. One cannot exist without the other, and together we represent undying love and devotion.", she finished sending an adoring gaze at Yang.

This caused both Harry and Ichigo to blush while there companions giggled at there obliviousness. Ginny was fuming about possibly (make that definitely), losing Harry, while Ron was angry that none of those colorful chickens wanted to bond with him….he was way better than Harry, right?

Both teens were saved from futhrer ridicule, by Mr. Weasley announcing that Ichigo's wand would be finished by now, and Mrs, Weasley rushing them out of the shop.

Ichigo had been trailing behind the group (Yin and Yang had long since poofed back to headquarters) when she bumped into someone's back. Looking up she noticed that it was Harry and was about to ask him why he had stopped when she heard a voice that she had hoped to never hear again…"Hey, long time no see, Shinigami". Snapping her head to catch the azure eyes and baby blue hair she knew she would see, she replied "Not long enough, Grimmjow."


	9. Chapter 9

Warnings: AU, Gender-swap (features a Female Ichigo), violence, Ginny-bashing for sure….that's all for now.

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach and J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. Honestly, if I owned Harry Potter, Ginny would be burning in the deepest pits of hell, and if I owned Bleach, Ichigo's final hollow form would be seen a lot more often… PS sorry that this took son long to update, but I am in the middle of midterms, and fight scenes truly are a bitch to write

Ichigo stared deep into the blue eyes of her number one nemesis, Aizen's sheer power having been beaten out by Grimmjow's damn persistence. "I know I promised Grimmjow, but there are far to many people around…..It's not like I can just drop anything and do it, hell when I said that I assumed you wouldn't take advantage of me like that expecting it to happen every other day. I mean, fuck! I had a life in the world of the living too ya know."

As soon as Ichigo finished her rant, Ichigo heard a strangled whine come from behind her. She whipped her head around expecting to find someone hurt, but was instead met with the shocked and blushing faces of her hosts….and oddly enough sadness, disappointment, and jealousy on Harry's face.

"What the hell is your problem? Why are you all blushing…..was it something I said?" queried Ichigo.

Grimmjow just held his stomach and let out a deep belly laugh. "Don't you get it shinigami? Your little rant made them think we we're fuckin'. Ya never said that the promise was for you to fight me whenever I wanted."

Ichigo turned pasty white. They thought that she…..with him? Oh god no, that was just too disturbing to think of (AN: I don't really have anything against the GrimmIchi paring, 'cause I actually do enjoy it….it just doesn't work in this story), I mean she preferred guys with jewel tone eyes, luscious dark hair, and an exotic accent, wait where did that come from?

Harry let out a sigh of relief, so she wasn't seeing anyone. He didn't have time to think about why this may have been so important to him, as that was when the blue haired man leapt at the group, sword held aloft.

"Damn Grimmjow,, he knows that if he attacks innocent people that I'll have no choice but to fight him", thought Ichigo irritably as she deftly blocked his sword.

Grimmjow then began charging a cero in his hand, and thrust it at Ichigo's face. Ichigo knew she couldn't dodge, so she took the attack head on, blocking what she could with the side of zangetsu. She emerged from the cloud of dust with the arm and shoulders of her shihakusho top in tatters, and the exposed parts mildly bleeding.

Harry was inwardly panicking, he could tell she was still recovering from her torture sessions, and could not hold him off for long. The worst part was that he couldn't do anything. Grimm-whatever, was moving way to fast and any spell he could cast (assuming it actually had any affect considering the man looked like he was cut from marble) would be far more likely to hit Ichigo or an innocent bystander. All he could do now was wait and watch while the person he loved fought for her life,

Wait love…..did he love Ichigo? He winced again as he saw Ichigo take another hit before she called out his name.

"Harry, brace yourself, your about to see me use both bankai and my mask….I'm not sure how well wizards can hold up to the pressure."

She held Zangetsu parallel to the ground before shouting out "Bankai" creating a cloud of dust obscuring her form. When it cleared, the group could see her wearing a long black tattered cloak with white edges and red lining over her standard hakama. She was carrying a jet black katana with a manju shaped guard, and a chain with one broken link at the end. Following the initial transformation she swiped her hand across her face, forming a sinister hollow mask. This was a risk, but it was an even bigger risk to drag out the fight any longer.

Instantly almost everyone in the immediate vicinity hit the ground and began to gasp for breath. Inadequate shield charms shattered instantly, those that cast strong ones widened their area to cover those left vulnerable. Harry himself was still standing, but felt as if all the air had been pushed out of his lungs.

Ichigo rushed towards Grimmjow and attempted to cut him across his chest, foreseeing the attack, however, he managed to get away with only a minor cut. He immediately retaliated with a cut across Ichigo's sword arm, but as she was no stranger to pain, she did not drop the jet black katana.

Their swords kept clashing giving off a loud clang followed by a shower of sparks. Aside from a few hits, neither side was giving an inch. Ichigo knew for all her skills, she was at a major disadvantage. For one thing, she was still recovering and could already feel her mask reaching it's limit. Secondly she could use neither offensive kido (she may know how to use it, but they are ridiculously overpowered) or Getsuga Tenshou as she refused to put everyone else in danger….a compunction Grimmjow obviously didn't share as he shot a series of bala at a building. Reacting quickly Ichigo threw up a Danku to mitigate the attack.

While she was protecting the stores and civilians, Grimmjow rushed at her and shoved Pantera threw her upper stomach and used the momentum to pin her to the side of a building. Ichigo's mask reached her limit and shattered as she gave a cry of pain.

It was this sound that brought Harry out of his stupor, and, canceling his shield he began firing hex after hex at the startled arrancar…even some of the darker ones Ichigo had convinced him he should learn. After being hit with a bone shattering hex, Grimmjow got over his shock and began advancing on Harry, Ichigo saw that he was in front of a long deserted street and saw her opportunity. She painstakingly slid herself forward on the sword to give herself enough room, raised her hand with two fingers outstretched and let off a cero, causing a bright red beam to go careening into the distracted Espada.

Grimmjow emerged from the dust heavily bleeding, yet somehow able to stand. His right arm was held at an awkward angle, presumably having been hit by a bone shattering hex courtesy of Harry. All of a sudden another one of those weird portals opened, and a tall, lanky man with a giant weapon of some sort and an eye patch came out, followed by another man wearing an eye patch though he was much shorter and blonde.

"Yo sexta! You went and got yourself pretty fucked up eh? Aizen sent me to save your sorry ass and pass along a message to Pet over here." The tall man made a gesture towards the pinned and exhausted Ichigo. "Tesla! Go and grab the idiot, I'll go and get his sword."

"Hai, Noitora-sama" the blond replied subserviently.

The newly dubbed Noitora disappeared in a flash before reappearing in front of Ichigo. He leaned in close while wearing a sinister grin and grabbing the hilt of the sword., he passed on his message. "Aizen wanted me to tell you that you are his and nothing you do will change that.", with that said he ripped the blade out of the prone soul reaper and disappeared into the garganta with a stoic Tesla and a protesting Grimmjow in tow.

With her only means of support gone, Ichigo fell forward. The last sensations she had before losing consciousness was the sight of worried emerald eyes, and the feeling of being ensconced in a warm, loving embrace.


End file.
